Swans Academy and player watch

[Ludwig]

WHat I love about this is that it's all about players who haven't even been drafted. In that story Jon Ralph is already calling the 2015 draft order. The draft has an incredibly high failure rate, even among top tens, but Maguire has already declared it to be loaded in favour of NSW and Qld teams.

Then there's Eddie's bizarre reference to returning the game to Victoria. The Swans should go back to Lakeside?

And can't believe Josh Dunkley got a mention. FS is now a problem when the Swans benefit?

All very good points.

It's completely over the top the way some of Swans haters have gone crazy over this. They are still hurting from the Tippett and Franklin signings.

According to Eddie, when Collingwood do something clever it's good management, but if the Swans do it, its cheating.

[Matt80]

The National Talent Manager of the AFL, Kevin Sheehan, was just on SEN talking to KB about Eddie's comment's RE the acadamies and basically laughed them off.

He fully explained how the current academy system works and how clubs have the right to bid on players the same as with the father-son rule and mentioned it is just the luck of ladder positioning that Sydney will be able to draft 'a likely top 5-er' with pick 16, 17, 18.

He also went into detail saying that currently only 11% of all AFL players are drafted from NSW/Qld combined and that the AFL is aiming for this to be 20% as soon as possible and that it definitely wouldn't be achievable without the development provided via the academies.

He may not exactly be Gillon McLachlan but it is still comforting to hear somebody with an official AFL role come out and vehemently defend the academies.

By the way, loving Andrew Pridham getting on the front foot on twitter and getting behind the club, very passionate man!

One of the advantages to the academy is that you can also teach the Swans system to players at a younger age.

The better academy players like Perris, Heeney, Davis and Mills also play in the Swans reserves as 17 and 18 years. This gives them an advantage when they spend their first year on the Swans list.

You can imagine Longmire telling the 14 and 15 years olds in the academy the importance of tackling as a Swans key performance indicator!

[lwjoyner]

It isn't only Eddie ,Kingy was on Half time a short while ago raving about the unfairness of the academies. Doesn't mention who pays for them, doesnt mention Collingwood being able to get Keeffe and Witts and how they got Rocca back and by the way how Nth got Grant. I think it high time the Swans and the other 3 northern clubs started to ask and rant about why Collingwood gets the poster games like Anzac Day, Easter Monday, Essendon gets Anzac Day and the Sat night indigenous game. If we are going to get the system fair (equilisation) we need to be fair across the board.

[Northern_Swan]

A Swan supporter made the following poignant comment on Bigfooty;

"Listen to the interview with Isaac Heeney on the AFL site. He openly says if not for the Academy, he wouldn't be at the level he is. In other words,Sydney aren't taking a player from anyone else. If Sydney wasn't funding the Academy, that player would simply not exist in the system, or would be a raw, late draft pick/rookie at best. The Academy rewards Sydney for their investment in growing the talent pool. We're not "stealing" top ranked players, because without the Academy, they wouldn't be top ranked players. If not for the Academy, he'd be a rookie pick, so we're basically taking a rookie pick with our first pick, but it's just a rookie we've been able to identify has talent and put a couple of years development into before we draft him."

Knowing Isaac and having watched him play since a kid, but especially after making his first grade debut at 15, I would say he is being typically modest with that comment. He is, without a doubt, a special talent and I have no hesitation in saying he would make it anyway.

[Ludwig]

The system is rigged so that Collingwood will always be the most profitable club. That's the first thing that needs correcting.

[MomentByMoment]

Not to mention home advantage for the Grand Final. I'm sure Port and Freo would love to play a home premiership.

My prediction:
1. No changes to the academy.
2. Eddies head will explode after we win the next 3 premierships.

On national TV

[shaun..]

The system is rigged so that Collingwood will always be the most profitable club. That's the first thing that needs correcting.

This.

He's done well to set up Collingwood but now he's acting like a spoilt brat.

[SPC]

Knowing Isaac and having watched him play since a kid, but especially after making his first grade debut at 15, I would say he is being typically modest with that comment. He is, without a doubt, a special talent and I have no hesitation in saying he would make it anyway.

I agree with the special talent comment my fellow Novacastrian, however I'm not so convinced his pathway to the AFL would have been so set in stone if the Swans Academy wasnt around. I coached Isaac in cricket at U13s level to a Div 1 Flag, and he was a very gifted wicket keeper/batsmen who would have walked into the Newcastle rep team if he wasn't already involved in the Swans academy. Unbelievably clean hands behind the stumps and fantastic hand/eye when batting, who rarely missed a ball and loved hitting sixes. As an aside, if you are ever having a cricket game with the Swans, pick him first!

His brother Beau was already in the academy system and Isaac followed him in, but without that system to capture his imagination and lock him away, given his all round sporting talent, there would have been lots of other games in the area looking to snap him up.

PS, he was a great kid and a pleasure to have in the team, hope he brings the same to the Swans.

[swansrob]

In fairness to Eddie, we do hide away the cream of the academy crop - playing them in the NEAFL safe in the knowledge no one outside the supporters of the senior AFL sides really gives a @@@@

[Reggi]

Isaac said he would not have kept playing AFL without thr Academy being there

[ShockOfHair]

I agree with the special talent comment my fellow Novacastrian, however I'm not so convinced his pathway to the AFL would have been so set in stone if the Swans Academy wasnt around. I coached Isaac in cricket at U13s level to a Div 1 Flag, and he was a very gifted wicket keeper/batsmen who would have walked into the Newcastle rep team if he wasn't already involved in the Swans academy. Unbelievably clean hands behind the stumps and fantastic hand/eye when batting, who rarely missed a ball and loved hitting sixes. As an aside, if you are ever having a cricket game with the Swans, pick him first!

His brother Beau was already in the academy system and Isaac followed him in, but without that system to capture his imagination and lock him away, given his all round sporting talent, there would have been lots of other games in the area looking to snap him up.

PS, he was a great kid and a pleasure to have in the team, hope he brings the same to the Swans.

Nice story. Thanks for sharing.
I suspect you're right about the importance of the Academy. Remember, the Swans pushed for it for years and only when GWS came along did the league agree to it.

[Conor_Dillon]

One of the advantages to the academy is that you can also teach the Swans system to players at a younger age.

The better academy players like Perris, Heeney, Davis and Mills also play in the Swans reserves as 17 and 18 years. This gives them an advantage when they spend their first year on the Swans list.

You can imagine Longmire telling the 14 and 15 years olds in the academy the importance of tackling as a Swans key performance indicator!

Yeh that's absolutely spot on! From reading the various match reports and expert opinions they have always said that both Isaac and Callum are exceptional tacklers!

[Nico]

David King is a tosser. He just jumps on any bandwagon to try to improve his profile. He was an assistant coach at Richmond and wasn't required. Tells you something.

[Matt80]

I think if the Swans get to the point where all the players they take in the NAB draft are academy selections and this happens every year, then the competition could be upset.

What you would have then is a youth system as potent as Manchester United in soccer.

If the Swans Academy becomes so renowned that the best 13 and 14 year old AFL players around the country are moving to Sydney to join the Academy, then the competition could be upset. The competition would become more upset if the Swans were organising jobs for the parents through their networks and putting the academy players into elite private schools.

The academy is not this sort of beast, but the Swans need to be careful not to make the academy as potent as the youth systems at Manchester United or Barcelona otherwise the competition will tear it down!

[dimelb]

I think if the Swans get to the point where all the players they take in the NAB draft are academy selections and this happens every year, then the competition could be upset.

What you would have then is a youth system as potent as Manchester United in soccer.

If the Swans Academy becomes so renowned that the best 13 and 14 year old AFL players around the country are moving to Sydney to join the Academy, then the competition could be upset. The competition would become more upset if the Swans were organising jobs for the parents through their networks and putting the academy players into elite private schools.

The academy is not this sort of beast, but the Swans need to be careful not to make the academy as potent as the youth systems at Manchester United or Barcelona otherwise the competition will tear it down!

Matt, you are doing a Chicken Licken here. The parents of said 14 and 15 year olds aint gonna move to Sydney so their kids can play football. At least, not without a COLA for parents.